Pyrometheus :: Feature Film Preview

Did humanity start from a cosmic oven that fell from space?

In 2009 I met performers from the Scintillation fire troupe at a Rollerderby halftime show. We discussed collaborating on a project. One year later, we gave birth to the feature-length art film PYROMETHEUS. Think of it an alternative Cirque de Soleil doing Prometheus.

More specifically: an artistically-performed history of the human universe as told via the Greek myth of Prometheus: from cosmic creation story, to the genesis of mankind, creation of gender, the arts and warfare … and the central tale of how Prometheus stole fire from the Gods, was punished and rescued.

Angel funded and wrought from breath, piss and kerosene, PYROMETHEUS defied my expectations of where performers could take my half-baked suggestions. These talented, fire-spinning folks frolicked in mud, paint and fifty gallon drums of makeshift blood, parkoured over burning staffs and ignited three-story Joan of Arc pyres by a giant metal dragon built from a Grand Marquis. And then there was the orgy scene.

We lost nearly half the cast when things got kinky. That was after the Last Supper scene with the glazed ham that turned into a nude dancer covered in BBQ sauce. Yes, we did go there. And there’s a swan sex scene.

Shot in four weekends in August. Gabe Deloach was our primary DP. David Ariew pulled off the CGI. We had our usual half dozen cameramen, some doubling as pyrotechnics experts, most losing their pants in the filming process.

Currently in post-production, PYROMETHEUS is slated to be finished by summertime – once we write the entire operatic score. Plus there’s the whole creation of the cosmos part with one hundred nude bodies floating in embryonic bubbles. We could use another one of those angel investors.

Cast portraits by Billy Hunt.

Amoeba Art & Media (a.k.a. Amoeba Films) is an award-winning production company and film studio in Central Virginia.